Slated for release in the next few weeks, details are starting to emerge about the long-awaited official launch of the Universal API project by Travelport.
Officials are already claiming "game-changing" status for the Universal API system, a multi-million pound project to create a single hosepipe of content from across the Travelport network of travel suppliers.
The API will be made available to existing customers, such as online and business travel agencies, as well as clearly being aimed at other types of businesses including metasearch engines.
Content included "down the pipe" will include air fares, hotel availability, car hire and European high-speed rail tickets.
Travelport is also talking up the addition (although it has content agreements anyway) of a string of low cost carriers, such as EasyJet - the anti-GDS airline Ryanair remains absent, inevitably, for the time being.
Ancillary products from airlines are also included, when existing agreements include such items.
The Universal API is also playing a major part in the new Universal Desktop system for offline travel agencies, another project scheduled for imminent release by Travelport.
The system effectively powers the entire content stream going into Universal Desktop, thus why both products are going live at around the same time.
Phil Donathy, global product manager on the developer solutions team at Travelport, says the project has taken the best part of three years to complete and uses much of the technology and skills obtained via its acquisition of part of G2Switchworks in April 2008.
"We created this [Universal API] to solve the problem that many have when having to connect to multiple APIs from suppliers. Rather than coding for multiple connections, we are supplying it all in one place."
Travelport is preparing to ramp up its marketing efforts to the wider industry over the course of the next month, quietly adding a number of introduction and developertutorial video clips on YouTube yesterday and launching a dedicated website for the system a few weeks ago.
Indeed, such is Travelport's obvious excitement, a game known as API Eliminator is included on the API website.
Nevertheless, the timing couldn't be better for Travelport, in some respects.
Certainly in the US it is expected that the marketplace will change over the coming months as intermediaries (meta and OTA) evaluate which content pipe they wish to use, if and when Google's acquisition of ITA Software is approved after antitrust hearings.